RUSSIA EXAM

Question 1

Chistka

Answer 1

In 1918, Lenin purged 1/3 of the party

Question 2

Lenin Enrolment

Answer 2

128,000 new members in 1924

Question 3

Leningrad Affair

Answer 3

100 shot and 2000 arrested in 1949

Question 4

Khrushchev gulag population

Answer 4

Dropped from 2.4 million to 1.6 million as he scaled back the use of terror

Question 5

Khrushchev cadre change

Answer 5

He replaced 44% of the Central Committee between 1953-56 in ‘cadre change’

Question 6

Khrushchev decentralisation

Answer 6

Number of ministries reduced from 55 to 25

Question 7

Brezhnev gerontocracy

Answer 7

Between 1964-71, there were only 2 promotions to the politburo and the average age of officials was over 60

Question 8

Brezhnev awards

Answer 8

Brezhnev awarded himself prizes, such as the Lenin Peace Prize and the Lenin Prize for Literature

Question 9

Magnitogorsk population

Answer 9

The population grew from 25 to 250000 in 3 years

Question 10

Inefficiency 1 5YP

Answer 10

40% of production was wasted

Question 11

Production 2 5YP

Answer 11

The Dnieprostroi Dam meant that electricity production up x5

Question 12

Collectivisation livestock

Answer 12

In response to forced collectivisation, peasants slaughtered their livestock. The levels of livestock did not return to the pre-war levels until 1953

Question 13

Famine

Answer 13

1932-33 - 5 million died

Question 14

Collectivisation success

Answer 14

By 1941, 100% of Soviet farms were collectivised, but they were still reliant on private plots for food.

Question 15

Imports

Answer 15

The USSR relied on US imports for ⅕ of the calories consumed by the Red Army during the WWII

Question 16

Homelessness

Answer 16

25 million people were homeless after WWII

Question 17

Global economic growth

Answer 17

In 1945, the USSR had the fasted growing economy in the world

Question 18

Population in agriculture

Answer 18

44-54% of the population worked in agriculture

Question 19

Corn campaign

Answer 19

Hay produced decreased by 30%

Question 20

Farm income

Answer 20

250% increase in farm incomes between 1952-56

Question 21

Khrushchev consumer goods

Answer 21

Production of consumer goods increased by 60% under the 7YP but still below target

Question 22

Military spending

Answer 22

Berlin Crisis 1961 and Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 led to increases in military spending

Question 23

Brezhnev economic growth

Answer 23

2% economic growth pa in the 1970s

Question 24

Lenin decree on press

Answer 24

By 1921, 575 printing presses and 2000 newspapers had closed

Question 25

Lenin culture

Answer 25

Meyerhold led avant garde in theatre and Eisenstein and Vertov were innovative in film

Question 26

Stalin culture

Answer 26

Stalinist Baroque architecture - e.g. Moscow University or Seven Sisters buildings

Question 27

Khrushchev censorship

Answer 27

30 small communities disappeared from Soviet maps 1958-1991 because of nuclear disasters that were suppressed

Question 28

Brezhnev religion

Answer 28

20% of citizens still had a faith

Question 29

Lenin religion

Answer 29

Lenin seized land from the Church, separated the Church and the State, used terror against Russian Orthodox priests, targeted Catholics in the Civil War but had a lesser focus on Islam and used anti-religious propaganda. He renamed baptisms to Octoberings

Question 30

Glavlit

Answer 30

In 1921, Felix Dzerzhinsky (head of the Cheka) established Glavlit to censor publications.

Question 31

Stalin Cult

Answer 31

Disciple of Lenin, Tsaritsyn was renamed to Stalingrad, Vozhd national celebration and Generalissimo after WWII

Question 32

International women's day

Answer 32

On International Women’s Day in 1927 there was a mass campaign to get women to cast off their veils.

Question 33

Khrushchev religion

Answer 33

Khrushchev had a more hardline approach to religion than Stalin, he returned to closures and anti-religious propaganda. He targeted women as the most observant members of society.

Question 34

Khrushchev control

Answer 34

Khrushchev implemented ‘popular oversight’ where ordinary citizens disciplined themselves and others.

Question 35

Khrushchev freeze thaw

Answer 35

Freeze - Dr Zhivago banned in 1954 Thaw - TV celebrated space advances e.g. Sputnik, Gagarin and Tereshkova and Sovetskii Sport became popular and had a reputation for honest coverage (of sport). Brezhnev’s frailty was exposed by TV pictures.

Question 36

Radio

Answer 36

Radio was controlled by the government and only one station was available until 1964.

Question 37

Brezhnev culture

Answer 37

Nostalgic - e.g. Bolshoi ballet

Question 38

Brezhnev control

Answer 38

Maximum control, minimum violence

Question 39

Bulldozer exhibition

Answer 39

This was an unofficial art exhibition led by Moscow and Leningrad Avant-Garde artists. It was forcefully broken up by a large police force, including bulldozers and water cannons.

Question 40

Literacy 1917

Answer 40

32%

Question 41

Unemployment 1917

Answer 41

50% decrease in workers in Petrograd in 1917

Question 42

Women in work (early)

Answer 42

Number of women in industry increased from 3 million in 1928 to 13 million in 1940

Question 43

Red army literacy

Answer 43

By 1925, 100% of the Red Army was literate and reading rooms were encouraged

Question 44

Literacy 1939

Answer 44

By 1939, 94% of the population was literate (97% men and 90% women).

Question 45

Party membership female

Answer 45

1929, 12%

Question 46

Infant mortality

Answer 46

Infant mortality halved between 1940 and 1950

Question 47

Khrushchev benefits

Answer 47

Doubled the health and welfare budget and increased maternity leave from 77 to 112 days. He quadrupled the pension budget, gave free lunches in schools, offices and factories, free public transport and full pension and welfare rights to farmers. Urban housing doubled

Question 48

Women in work (late)

Answer 48

In 1955, women made up 49% of the workforce, but they only received 60-65% of men’s wages

Question 49

Unemployment Brezhnev

Answer 49

20%

Question 50

University Brezhnev

Answer 50

19% attendance

Question 51

Brezhnev benefits

Answer 51

Spending on benefits increased by 5% annually

Question 52

Fall of USSR - oil

Answer 52

Decline in global oil prices = income decreased by 2/3

Question 53

Fall of USSR - economic trends

Answer 53

Economy declined under Khrushchev, stagnated under Brezhnev and collapsed under Gorbachev - the economy had been struggling for years

Question 54

Fall of USSR - rationalisation

Answer 54

took place from 1985-86. Policies included uskorenie (acceleration) and the anti-alcohol campaign which led to a loss of 67 billion roubles

Question 55

Fall of USSR - elections 1989

Answer 55

CPSU won 80% seats

Question 56

Fall of USSR - CIS

Answer 56

Russia, Belarus and Ukraine formed the Commonwealth of Independent States in 1991

Question 57

Fall of USSR - Lithuania

Answer 57

Lithuania declared independence in March 1990 which led to sympathy strikes in Ukraine

Question 58

Fall of USSR - Ukraine

Answer 58

1 December 1991 → In a plebiscite, 90% of Ukrainians voted to separate from the USSR (20% of the Soviet population live there)

Question 59

Fall of USSR - referendum

Answer 59

Referendum of 9 states and 76% favoured new federation

Question 60

Fall of USSR - Brezhnev nationalism

Answer 60

Nationalism had been kept at bay by the social contract - it was avoidable

Question 61

Fall of USSR - Gorby

Answer 61

Gorbachev’s approval rate dropped by 31%

Question 62

Fall of USSR - Yeltsin no

Answer 62

Yeltsin had been attacking the CPSU since 1987 and in 1989 the CPSU won 80% of seats

Question 63

Fall of USSR - Yeltsin yes

Answer 63

Yeltsin encouraged Russian nationalism which undermined Gorbachev’s powerbase